CHICAGO – Federal authorities arrested a man at Chicago’s Union Station over the weekend as he tried to board a Miami-bound Amtrak train, they announced Tuesday. Investigators said he packed toys and zip ties as he headed to South Florida to kidnap a young boy from a Fort Lauderdale private school for a $100,000 ransom.
Devontay Shields, 35, of Danville, Illinois, is facing a charge of attempted kidnapping. Federal prosecutors said he was busted as part of an undercover sting.
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“Shields communicated his plans to individuals who, unbeknownst to Shields, were cooperating with law enforcement,” a U.S. Department of Justice news release states.
Authorities said on Nov. 11, a Homeland Security Investigations “source of information” contacted special agents to inform them that Shields wanted to meet with his friend, a man identified in a criminal complaint as a “federal cooperating defendant” who pleaded guilty in the Southern District of Florida for two counts of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor.
Investigators said he had already picked out a private school from which to kidnap the “small child.” It wasn’t identified in the complaint; a redacted screenshot shows Shields allegedly sending the informant a screenshot of the school’s tuition page.
“All we got to do is grab one of the kids and (hold) them but it(’s) got to be a smaller child because we can convince them with candy and toys when we take them from the school,” federal agents said he texted the informant.
Authorities said Shields continued, having attached the tuition page screenshot, “it will be easier to control them all the parents (are) rich there I sent you what they pay each child bro we need it.”
The informant and Shields drove from Danville, Illinois to the Chicago area the next day to meet with the cooperating defendant, the complaint states.
Agents said the informant and cooperating defendant agreed to wear a wire as they met with Shields to hash out the plot inside of the informant’s vehicle, parked outside of their Harvey, Illinois hotel.
The complaint states that Shields began describing a “lick” to the cooperating defendant and said, “Imma get me a little boy,” estimating that it would take three or four days to get the ransom.
Shields later discussed purchasing supplies, authorities said, and drove to a Target store in Homewood, Illinois to buy two toys.
According to the complaint, Shields asked a Target employee “where the guns were.” The informant asked why he needed that and Shields replied, “so the kid knew he had one,” authorities said.
Authorities said on Wednesday, Shields and the informant drove to a sporting goods store in Hammond, Indiana to buy a BB gun and on Friday, went to a Chicago AutoZone in order to buy zip ties, telling the informant he planned to get “just a random little boy.”
Just before 4 p.m. on Saturday, agents said Shields reserved a hotel room and rental car in South Florida and bought two tickets for an Amtrak train set to depart for Miami later that evening.
“As soon as I touch down I’m getting to it,” he told the informant, according to the complaint. “I’m trying to make sure I hear that over the TV before nighttime.”
At 6:20 p.m., authorities stopped Shields before as he tried to board the train. They said he allowed them to search his bag.
“During the search, law enforcement officials found a ‘Lankybox’ stuffed children’s toy (Ages 3+ according to the labeling), a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figure (Ages 4+ according to the labeling) and self-cutting cable ties (zip ties),” authorities wrote in the complaint.
Authorities said Shields claimed he was headed to Miami “because he had never been there before” and “wanted to see how it was,” claiming he was coming back on Sunday because he had a court appearance on Monday.
Investigators said Shields claimed “his brother-in-law gave him the toys and zip ties today at the hotel he was staying at” and denied knowing anything about the kidnapping plot.
Shields, after being taken into custody, was charged in the Northern District of Illinois. He’s set to have a preliminary hearing in a Chicago federal courtroom on Nov. 25 and faces up to two decades behind bars if convicted.
Federal Bureau of Prisons records list him as being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, Chicago, a federal detention facility.
Read the complaint: